CNN Conservative Blasts Legacy Media: It’s Not Just the Right – Blame the Outlets Too

During a heated panel discussion, conservative political commentator Scott Jennings, who frequently appears on CNN, stunned his fellow panelists by rejecting the notion that “the right wing” alone is responsible for the steep decline in public trust toward legacy media. Instead, he argued, mainstream news organizations themselves share guilt for biased coverage favoring Democrats over fairness.

Jennings rose to respond to author and media critic Jeff Jarvis, who had earlier claimed that media institutions are under siege by conservatives. “What the ‘right’ has seized on is something deeper: Americans finally saying, ‘enough is enough,’” Jennings countered. “They’re tired of feeling as if national media force‑feeds a single narrative. They’re weary of coverage slanted toward one party. They want facts, not storylines.”

To underline his point, Jennings referred to the recent controversy at 60 Minutes. The longtime newsmagazine came under fire for allegedly editing portions of a pre-election interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris to soften criticism. The public backlash reportedly led to the departure of producer Bill Owens, who had overseen the editing process. “If I could offer any advice to 60 Minutes or any news outlet,” Jennings said, “it would be: just cover the news, do your best to be fair, and stop tilting the scales—especially in campaign years.”

Jarvis pushed back, calling Jennings’ appeal to a centrist “myth,” saying there is no politically neutral middle ground. He even invoked Walter Cronkite, former anchor of the CBS Evening News, suggesting the media in earlier eras may have had built-in biases. “People trusted the media back then, didn’t they?” Jennings retorted. Jarvis doubted it.

Jennings leaned in, citing Gallup polling on declining media trust and insisting the blame lies with the media’s performance, not politics. “If you run a network or newspaper—and your trust rating is plummeting—don’t blame external targets,” he argued. “Fix your product. Make your coverage more inclusive. Stop vilifying entire swaths of Americans over their beliefs.”

At that moment, host Abby Phillips interjected sharply: “Much of media distrust is fueled by the rhetoric coming from your side of the aisle.” The comment visibly shook Jennings. “You really believe it’s the rhetoric and not the performance that’s driving distrust?” he fired back. Phillips doubled down. Jennings responded more broadly: “Look, if you’re a major news outlet—you’ve lost trust for reasons that should be obvious. You can’t blame one political party or person. Your failure is in how you cover half the country with contempt rather than respect.”

The tension in the studio highlighted a broader trend: as the 2024 election looms, even establishment media outlets are revisiting stories of Democratic scandals—issues long spotlighted by Republican voices. For instance, The New York Post recently lambasted The New York Times for belatedly running stories on Hunter Biden’s alleged influence-peddling—a saga first exposed years ago by conservative outlets. “Better late than never, I suppose,” the Post’s editorial quipped, “though the timing seems more convenient than courageous.”

Jennings’ core message remained: media distrust won’t be healed by blaming political enemies or by cherry-picking scandals. It will only improve if media outlets themselves start rethinking how they report: with balance, openness to dissenting perspectives, and fewer assumptions about who deserves coverage and who doesn’t.